


Not My First Choice, But Better Than No One

by vanillanemo



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, Canon-Typical Violence, Drug Withdrawal, Sibling Incest, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-05-12 20:19:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19236388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanillanemo/pseuds/vanillanemo
Summary: Klaus is the only one to make it back in time. Now its up to him to stop the apocalypse, a sarcastic ghost and cranky older brother in tow.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm hoping that posting this will encourage me to actually keep writing it but who knows?  
> Also tags may be updated as I go, especially because I can't do freeform tags on my phone for some reason.

Five has rarely teleported other people before, and never time travelled with passengers. So obviously, it went wrong.

He successfully brought them all into the vortex, into the rippling folds of time and space, but then he faltered. Ran out of energy to get them all out.

All seven of them were ripped apart by the vortex, scattered into atoms that spread across the cosmos.

A long way away, in a world of black and white, a little girl tutted and flicked her fingers.

Klaus Hargreeves woke up, the words "you can't be here" rattling around in his mind, echoing in a voice he _knows_ , but struggles to place.

There's the familiar weight of an oxygen mask over his face, which he pulls off as soon as he can make his trembling hands work, and he takes in his surroundings - an ambulance, certainly nothing unfamiliar.

The paramedic is one he has met many times before - Nathan, perhaps? Klaus lifts his hand for a high five even as he slumps against the wall, and Maybe-Nathan returns it, a hint of exasperation in his smile.

The TV in the corner blares a fanfare, and they both focus in as the reporter takes them to breaking news, news which nearly makes Klaus' heart stop just from the shock.

Reginald Hargreeves, esteemed and eccentric billionare, is dead.

Klaus swallows down the cry of confusion that crawls up his throat, and turns to the paramedic.

"Hey man, what's the date?"

"March 23rd," Maybe-Nathan answers.

March 23rd. Dad's just died. Five did it. He brought them back in time.

God, he and Ben need to find the others, they need to regroup, they need to sort this all out.

"I need to get off now, I need to go," Klaus says. "Like, thanks for everything but I have to go."

Maybe-Nathan sighs, and leans over to his partner in the driver's seat. The sirens get switched off, they pull over, and Maybe-Nathan lets him out with a, "Take care of yourself, Klaus," and really, that's a bad sign that paramedics know him by name but who cares, when they've got a second chance to save the world and right now Klaus thinks he should go and find Vanya, if she's woken up back here, back  _now_ then she's probably panicking, and Allison is probably still in L.A. so Klaus is the next best option.

He stops walking for the first time since getting out of the ambulance and looks around, trying to gets his bearings and failing.

Ben huffs irritably at him, and sure, maybe Klaus should have continued on to the hospital, because the buildings shouldn't be spinning like that, but there were more important things than his health, damnit!

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Ben asks.

"We gotta go check on Vanya, man, she was unconscious, she'll be so confused and maybe even scared, and-"

"Wait, what? When was Vanya unconscious, why would she be confused, or scared? You haven't seen her in, what, three years?"

Klaus turned to give Ben his full attention, trying to keep the look of horror off his face. "Ben," he said, slowly, "We all just travelled back in time. It was April 1st, and we had failed to prevent the apocalypse, and Five took us all back in time to try again."

Ben looks back at him without a trace of recognition or understanding. "Five's been missing for years, Klaus, and the whole reason he went missing was because he wasn't very good at the time travel thing."

The horror on Klaus' face must be obvious now, because Ben looks awfully concerned. "What exactly did you take, it was ecstacy, right? Maybe you got a bad batch?"

"I'm not crazy," Klaus breathes softly. "I'm not hallucinating, or-" He cuts off, because other people on the street are giving him a wide berth and yeah, he's not crazy, but God, he bets he looks it. "Where are we?" He asks instead.

"Corner of 22nd and 4th."

"Which way is the Academy?"

Ben gestures vaguely back the way they've just come, and Klaus sets off with purpose, Ben following close enough behind that he doesn't need to avoid walking through people. They walk in silence, even though Klaus can tell Ben has a  _lot_ of questions. Klaus doesn't want to answer them out in the open, he doesn't have a clue just how many eyes and ears that Commission thing has around.

When he reaches the Academy, the front door is locked, so he climbs up the fire escape and jimmies open the window to his bedroom. He closes it behind Ben, switches on the lights and sits cross legged on his bed, Ben settling in across from him.

"I'm not crazy. Dad just died, he killed himself to bring us all back together, there's an apocalypse in one week and really, I should see if Pogo knows  _how_ Dad knew about the apocalypse. Five ran away from here, got stuck in the future, in the post-apocalyptic wasteland, and he got back - will get back? - dunno, whatever, he gets back tomorrow. Vanya causes the apocalypse. She looses control of her powers after she stops taking her meds for some reason, and that Jenkins guy manipulates her and turns her against us. Luther locked her up, is _any_ of this ringing any bells for you?"

Ben shook his head slowly, and Klaus sighed.

"Damn it. Is it... are you the only one who didn't come back, or am I the only one who did? Fuck, I hope not, I am the least competent person in this family."

"You are not."

"Uh, I totally am. Not much I can do about that now, guess I'll find out tomorrow, assuming they all show for the funeral again."

"Can we go back to the 'Dad killing himself to bring us all back together' thing? What's up with that?" Ben still looked concerned, but he was at least pretending to believe Klaus, if not actually believing him, and that was good enough.

"Um, so, the coroner's report said Dad died of a heart attack, but his monocle was missing, which got Luther all in a huff, and there's security footage of Mom not interfering when Dad was dying. Then I managed to conjure Dad, and he explained that the missing monocle and security tapes were to create a mystery, he hoped that us solving it together would make us want to be a team again, or some shit. Mom was tampered with, so she couldn't provide first aid, which I think Pogo must have been able to reverse, cause she was fine a few days later."

"So what happened to the monocle?" Ben asked.

"Uh..." Klaus trailed off, trying to remember what, for him, was ten months ago. Diego's words came to him in vivid clarity.

_"I knew, if you found it on Mom, you'd lose your shit! Just like you're doing right now."_

"Mom has it," he said. "She took it to clean it. I gotta... someone has to..."

Klaus scrambled to his feet and out the door. He could see Mom in Luther's room, making the bed and humming to herself.

"Hey, Mom?" he called out, and she stalled for a moment before she turned to him.

"Hello Klaus, dear. How lovely to see you."

He walked down the hallway, crossed the threshold to Luther's room, reached out -

Mom was there, really there, in one piece and entirely undamaged and fine -

Klaus wrapped her in a tight hug, and broke down sobbing when she hugged him back.

She was here, she was okay, and Klaus could make sure she didn't get destroyed again. He could make sure none of it happened again. Allison wouldn't lose her voice, Diego's girlfriend wouldn't die, Luther wouldn't get that fucking chandelier dropped on him, Vanya wouldn't - Klaus could fix it all.

It was a long time before Klaus could bring himself to pull back, and when he did, Grace had a look of deep concern on her face.

"Is everything all right, Klaus?"

He nodded. "Everything's gonna be just peachy, Mother. I'm gonna make sure of it. Hey, um, do you happen to have Dad's monocle?"

She freezes for a moment, processing, before she says, "Yes, I have it."

"Would you mind if I take it?"

"Not at all." She reaches down into her pocket, and places the monocle into his outstretched hand. Her face smooths back into her regular smile. "Do you need anything else, dear? I have to finish making up Luther's room before he gets home."

"No, that's fine. Thanks Mom. Love you."

"Alright then." She turns away, goes back to fitting sheets and fluffing pillows. Klaus watches her for a minute, running his fingers over the monocle in his hand, before he turns to leave, nearly walking through Ben, who was watching sadly.

That sadness, that deep grief over missing physical affection, solidified the plan in Klaus' mind. As he walked towards Dad's office, he detoured by the bathroom, where he cleared his pockets of drugs and flushed them down the toilet.

Ben didn't comment, likely because he'd seen this done before, seen Klaus try to quit and fail so many times that he probably had no hope left.

Once in Dad's office, Klaus set about looking for the box again. Whatever was in that box, it was so important that Pogo had been willing to forgo any blame or punishment if it came back.

It took a few tries before Klaus found it again, and as he pried it open with a letter opener off the desk, he heard the car arrive back at the house, heard Luther's heavy footsteps on the stairs.

But Luther didn't come by the office. It sounded like he went straight to his room, which - the guy had been on the moon for four years now, he probably just wanted a normal shower and a shave before he did anything else. Did they have showers on the moon? He would think there'd be _something_ , but then again Dad was a colossal prick, Klaus wouldn't put it past him to consider bathing a non-neccessity.

And oh, Klaus would have to find a way to break it to Luther that Dad sent him up there for nothing, wouldn't he? Preferably with less attacking and getting high.

The box came open, and Klaus chucked the letter opener down.

There, in all its glory, was Dad's notebook. He had this with him at every training session, every mission, and he was constantly filling it with notes on them. This is what Klaus had thrown away. What he hadn't been able to find later.

Klaus doesn't know what had happened to it the last time around, but this time he'd make sure it didn't go anywhere.

He took the box with him, and a few more valueable looking things, so that anyone *ahem* - Pogo - who came by wouldn't know Klaus had only gone for the notebook.

He ran into Diego on the landing.

"Hey, Diego, buddy, how are you?"

"Don't call me buddy, and I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

Klaus put a hand to his chest. "Moi? Well you see, my father has just died, and I am, of course, beside myself with grief, and so I have returned to mourn with all six of my siblings, shall be a day most grim, ten bucks says Luther cries-"

"I see you're still an asshole."

"Twenty bucks, then."

"That's not what I meant. Those drugs must have finally rotted your brain, if you can't even remember how many siblings you have left."

Klaus hummed. Guess Diego hadn't made it back with him. "It's about time, I've only been high since I was twelve. What about you, Number Two? What brings you here so late at night?"

"Checking Dad's room. Doesn't look like anyone else was there, I'll go to the coroner's office tomorrow morning and pick up the autopsy report."

"You mean steal?"

"You're one to talk about stealing. Dad's been dead less than a day and you've already pilfered his office?"

"It's just an advance on our inheritance."

"Whatever," Diego says, waving him away as he turns to leave. "It's not my problem."

Diego goes one way, down to the kitchen and the back door, and Klaus goes the other, back to their bedrooms. He doesn't go into his own though, rather into Five's. Thankfully, the company Dad ordered their uniforms from uses standard clothing sizes. Klaus memorises Five's, then goes back to his own room, uses the window to leave, down the fire escape again.

A quick stop off at a 24 hour pawn shop that is known for not asking questions, and Klaus has a few thousand dollars in his pockets. Then its off to a Wal-Mart.

Klaus gleefully grabs a trolley and heads to the kids section.

An hour later, Klaus has a weeks worth of _normal_ clothes for Five - and all sensible things, thank you very much - a pair of trainers and a pair of combat boots for the kid, and enough coffee to kill a horse.

He also buys himself a backpack and a blank notebook, and catches a taxi back to the Academy with his loot.

He manages to completely avoud anyone else as he gets back to his room, where Ben looks at him confusedly as he takes out his new notebook.

Klaus dates the first page March 24th, and writes down absolutely everything he remembers. Everything that happened, no matter how insignificant.

There's just a small sentence in the appropriate place - he's not quite ready to divulge all of that, and events from fifty years ago surely wouldn't have that much impact on today.

Ben has finally given up on staring at Klaus, instead fishing out his book - even though he's read it so many times he could quote it by memory. He still seems concerned, although that might just be in response to Luther's abnornally loud snoring.

By the time Klaus is done, its 4am in the morning and his wrist is killing him. The drugs are wearing off, and his room is filling up slowly. But he's going to stay sober, and he's going to learn to use his powers. For Ben.

He's been dead for thirteen years, and this time around his first bit of physical contact is going to be something nicer than punching someone in the face. Klaus is going to make sure of it.

He sighs, rubbing his hands over his face, then reaches into his bedside table and rummages around for his Walkman.

As he grabs it, his fingers brush up against something else. He pulls the blunt out, staring at it. The ghost in his room keep screaming, and it would be so easy to just light up and make them all disappear.

He remembers the look on Ben's face after he'd punched Klaus, _touched_ him for the first time in over a decade. Remembers the _hope_.

Klaus opens his window and throws the blunt out into the alleyway.

He catches sight of Ben's proud face as he puts his headphones on, and offers a small smile.

With his music cranked all the way up, Klaus pulls out Dad's notebook, flicks through it until he finds the first mention of #00.07, and settles in to read.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, there's been so much response to this, im amazed! thank you to everyone who left kudos or commented.  
> i had a comment re: formatting - i know, it looks clunky and shit, but i am working off my phone which makes fixing it difficult. i should have my new laptop in a few days and then i will be able to fix the formatting for both existing chapters  
> hope you enjoy chapter 2!

A few hours later, Ben gets up, and this movement makes Klaus look up.

There's a lot more ghosts.

Ben slips through the crowd easily, sticking his head through the door, before he comes back to Klaus' side.

Headphones off, Klaus can barely hear his brother say, "Luther's awake," over everyone else screaming his name.

Klaus nods so Ben knows he's heard, then gets up, stretching.

He swats ghosts away as he walks to his door, and opens it to see Luther's retreating figure.

"Luther, darling brother," he calls, grinning at the way Number One sighs before turning around. Klaus has always been the annoying sibling, which normally he hates, but right now, it means Klaus can suss out whether or not he time travelled, and if he didn't, Luther won't think anything of it.

Who knew 30 years of being himself could pay off one day?

"Klaus," Luther greets him with no affection, but also no disdain, which is more than Klaus was expecting this early in the morning.

(Luther doesn't function well in the first thirty minutes of wakefulness, no matter how much he tries to hide it.)

"How was the moon? Obviously good for growth up there, you really filled out. Hey, do you think Mom could be convinced to make waffles for breakfast now that Dad's not here?"

"Why on Earth would you want waffles for breakfast, that's so unhealthy."

Klaus shrugs. "Waffles were Ben's favourite, I always feel like he's here with me when I eat them," he says, shooting a grin over his shoulder at the ghost in question, who only pokes his tongue out in return.

This is the moment of truth. If this version of Luther has time travelled, then he'll know Ben has actually been hanging around. If not, he'll probably dismiss Klaus's comment.

Luther huffs. "As if you'd even know if Ben was here, you've spent your whole life too high to use your powers." Then he turns and walks off, leaving a slightly disappointed Klaus and a fuming Ben.

"How dare he?"

"Eh, he's right though. I really don't know why you're the exception when I'm high, so there's no reason for him to believe me."

Which is a truth Klaus wholeheartedly believes, no matter how much it hurts.

"He should believe you because you're his brother."

Klaus rolls his eyes and he sets off for the kitchen. "It's not exactly like we're a conventional family, little brother."

"I'm _not_ your little brother."

"Not only have you stopped aging since you died, but I have also time travelled, where you have not. I am 30 years old, so even if we count your years of ghostliness, I'm still older."

"I thought you came back from April 1st, that's only a week away."

"Hm? Oh yeah, uh... when Five comes back, there's gonna be these time travelling assassins after him. I stole their briefcases and accidentally went back to 1968, and I was there for ten months. Henceforth, I am 30, and currently the oldest sibling, at least until Five gets back."

Mom was cooking at the stove when they came into the kitchen, and Klaus ducked in for a quick side hug.

"Good morning, Mother."

"Good morning, Klaus. Would you like some breakfast?"

"Waffles?" He asked hopefully.

She processed for a long moment before she smiled.

"I suppose, just this once."

He beamed. "Can I help you?"

"Of course, dear. We'll need flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, eggs, milk, butter and vanilla. Could you get everything out, as well as a large and a medium mixing bowl."

Klaus set to work, and Mom joined him when she'd finished making Luther's oatmeal - which, really? The guy need to diversify his meals beyond Dad's "optimum performance" menu.

Mom was cooking the first waffle when Luther and Pogo came in.

"Master Klaus, good to see you again."

"Hey Pogo," Klaus said. Honestly, he wasn't sure how to feel about Pogo. On the one hand, he stood by and let an awful lot of shit happen, did nothing to stop it, he helped hide Vanya's powers from her, and he's currently lying about Dad's death. But on the other hand, he's family. And he was kind to them as they were growing up, he did quite a bit to soften their father's harsh methods where possible.

"So, do we have an official date and time for the funeral?" Klaus asks, despite knowing the answer.

"It will be later today. Miss Allison's flight should be landing soon, Master Diego was here late last night and has assured me that he will be here, and I have just gotten off the phone with Miss Vanya a few minutes ago, she is also coming."

"Everyone back together, huh?" Klaus says dryly as Mom slides a plate with two waffles on it in front of him. "Thanks Mom."

"No problem, dear. Go easy on the whipped cream."

Klaus promptly ignores her, piling it on as Ben rolls his eyes.

Luther huffs as he sits to eat his dust-flavoured mush, as Five once referred to it, and Pogo hmms. "I expect, Master Klaus, that you will stay here for the proceedings this afternoon?"

Klaus shrugs. "My schedule's pretty clear today." In reality, there's no place he'd rather be. He needs Five's help to fix things, no matter whether Five has lived the extra week or not. And also, Klaus has just terribly missed the little bastard these last 13 years, and as much as he's still an asshole, its been nice having him back.

Pogo nods, though he still looks like he doesn't quite believe Klaus. "If you need me, I shall be in my office."

An awkward silence falls, broken only by Mom topping up Klaus' plate and then doing the dishes. Luther finishes first and in out the door like a shot, Ben's glare following him out.

Klaus takes his time, enjoys his breakfast, and offers to help Mom with the clean up. She turns him down, which is entirely expected, so he just gives her another quick side hug and a kiss on the cheek before he goes back to his room, detouring by Allison's wardrobe to steal her skirt.

His bedroom is just as full and loud as before, and it takes monumentous effort to ignore them long enough to get changed and grab Five's new clothes.

He tears a page from his notebook and scribbles a quick note before he takes the bags into Five's room, leaves them on the bed with the note on top.

Then he wanders down the stairs to the lift.

The long corridor seems even more creepy and foreboding without other people there, Ben so silent he hardly counts.

The door is stiff from disuse, and it creaks ominously as Klaus shoves it open. He steps into the cell, and runs his hands over the spiked sound-absorbing walls.

"What is this place?" Ben says, and his voice is so, _so_  quiet. It works, Klaus thinks to himself, with a small smile.

"It's Vanya's cell," he explains as he kicks his shoes off. "Dad thought she was too powerful to control so he took away her powers, that's what her anxiety meds are for. She converts sound into energy, this place absorbs sound, makes everything quieter, and is completely soundproof if the door is closed." He shoves his shoes into the doorway, keeping the door open a crack. "I don't really want to lock myself in here, but a nap somewhere that the ghosts are a hell of a lot quieter than usual? Shit yeah, baby, sign me the fuck up."

He drops his backpack on the ground, his notebook and Dad's inside, the monocle wrapped in cloth and tucked away in a side pocket. He takes off his jacket and bundles it up, placing it on top of his backpack so that the two form a makeshift pillow.

"Wake me up in a few hours, please?"

Ben smiles. "Sure thing." He pulls out his book and sits down at the other end of the cell.

It's not perfectly silent, the tiny crinkle of paper and the soft huff of his breathing, and the screams that seem more like whispers.

But its better than anything he's ever had when sober, and Klaus will take what he can get.

* * *

He wakes to the shivering feeling of a ghost moving through him, and opens his eyes to see Ben waving a hand through his face.

Klaus swats him away, muttering, "I'm up, I'm up." He sat up and stretched, then gathered up his things and left, putting his shoes back on while he was in the lift.

"Thanks for the wake-up call, Benny."

"No problem. Did you sleep well?" He asked, although he probably already knew the answer.

Klaus shot him a winning smile. "I don't remember the last time I slept that well. It's incredible. Is that what its like for normal people? All... restful, and shit?"

Ben smiled softly. "Yeah. That's what sleep is supposed to be like."

"I like it."

When they made it to the top, they emerged into a tense scene in the entrance hall. Diego was insulting Vanya, saying she shouldn't be here after what she did. Which, fair enough, Vanya did write some awful and very private things in her book. But also, she's family.

Family they need to do better by.

"How are my two favourite sisters?" Klaus asks as he sweeps dramatically around the corner. He wraps Vanya into a hug which she returns awkwardly.

"Don't worry about Diego, he's an ass. You're always welcome here," he says, obviously loud enough for Allison to hear even though that wasn't his intention. Is he going deaf?

Well, after a lifetime of listening to screaming plus ten months in Vietnam, its not surprising.

"I second what Klaus said. I'm really glad you're here, Vanya."

Klaus releases Vanya and sweeps Allison into a hug, trying to hold back tears at hearing her voice, hearing her speak so freely and easily.

"Clearly, you two are the smartest in the family, my dear sisters, _mes cheris_." He lets go of Allison.

"So, how's things with you two? How's your music going, Vanya? Are you still in that orchestra?"

She looks genuinely shocked at having been asked, but she does answer. "Yeah, I am. It's going really well, I uh... I actually have a concert next week, if you... if you guys want to come." She's so soft and hesitant about it, and Klaus thinks it very unlikely that she's time travelled back from causing the apocalypse.

Klaus beams. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. You guys play at the Icarus Theatre, right?"

Vanya nods. Allison hums thoughtfully. "What date?"

"April 1st," Vanya says, and Klaus watches Allison's face very carefully, but there's no tells.

Then again, she's an actress for a living.

"I'll be there."

"Maybe we can bring Mom. I'm sure she'd love to get out of the house now that Dad's not here to stop her," Klaus suggests.

"That'd be nice," Vanya says.

It's a little awkward, all of them so distant from each other, but Klaus knows that this is a good first step towards helping them be better.

Which also means a step towards preventing the apocalypse.

* * *

Things proceed as he remembers, with the only exception being that Klaus only pours drinks for his sisters, and not himself. And the smoking. He's pretty sure he smoked last time, because Luther told him to put it out.

But Klaus is dropping _everything_ , because he knows if he allows himself one vice, he won't resist "just one more".

So yes, everything is the same. Allison recognising the skirt he's wearing, Luther's request to contact Dad, the accusation that was only spoken because Diego is stirring shit.

Home sweet home.

Klaus meanders into the kitchen with Dad's ashes, which he did _not_  spill this time, thank you very much.

Mainly because he didn't bother trying to contact Dad this time. Klaus already knows how the old man died, and he doesn't want to try learn anything more without consulting their resident time travel expert first.

Luther's 80's music starts playing, an apology and peace offering all in one, and Klaus dances happily around the room in between starting to brew coffee. Ben rolls his eyes when the song begins, but Klaus catches him tapping his foot to the beat.

There's an almighty crackle of power that sends the urn sliding across the table and knives hurtling through the air, and Klaus only just manages to save his father's ashes from crashing to the ground. He doesn't need to ask this time though, he knows exactly who it is.

Ben's hot on his heels as he peels out of the kitchen, as he gathers behind Luther and Diego with his sisters.

He asks again, because he just has to be certain.

"Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?"

Five looks at them, then at his little body in his oversized suit, and says, "Shit."

Klaus now thinks it pretty unlikely that anyone else made it back. It's just him.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me at ben-hargreeves-deserved-better.tumblr.com


End file.
